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Legislators: State should have backup plan for health care law

Some Republican state lawmakers want the Minnesota human services commissioner to have a contingency plan in place if the federal health care law's Medicaid expansion is either struck down or repealed.

Minnesota would lose about $2 billion in federal money between January 2014 and July 2015 if that part of the law doesn't survive.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the law in late June. And if upheld, the law could be vulnerable if Republicans take over Congress and the White House.

Minnesota House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, authored the bill that he said would minimize disruption for people on Medicaid.

"We're not going to want to be caught off guard with what happens at the federal level because at the state we are connected at the hip with the federal government with our Medicaid and Medicare programs," Dean said. "We don't have the luxury of not paying close attention to what's going on at the federal level.

The bill calls for the Human Services commissioner to submit a contingency plan to the legislature by Dec. 15.